What happened in this Culture story?

Netflix is moving forward with Season 2 of Ryan Murphy's horror series 'The Watcher' this fall in New York, with Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Margo Martindale, and Isabel Gravitt all set to reprise their roles roughly four years after Season 1 aired in October 2022.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Netflix** announced Season 2 of 'The Watcher' will begin production this fall in New York, with Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Margo Martindale, and Isabel Gravitt all returning to their roles from the 2022 first season.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**'The Watcher'** was originally conceived as a limited series and was renewed for a second season in November 2022 alongside Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's fellow Netflix show 'Monster,' whose fourth season recently launched on the platform.

📎 SkimNews has covered Netflix 297+ times · see the file →

'The Watcher' Season 2 Starts Production, Watts & Cannavale Return — SkimNews

By Variety · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-10-02

Get the Culture newsletter

Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.

Netflix announced Season 2 of 'The Watcher' will begin production this fall in New York, with Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Margo Martindale, and Isabel Gravitt all returning to their roles from the 2022 first season.
'The Watcher' was originally conceived as a limited series and was renewed for a second season in November 2022 alongside Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's fellow Netflix show 'Monster,' whose fourth season recently launched on the platform.
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan created the series and serve as executive producers, with Brennan returning as showrunner and Crystle Roberson Dorsey joining to direct and executive produce the new season.
Season 1 of 'The Watcher' tallied 125 million hours viewed in its first week on Netflix, climbing to 148 million hours in its second week and spending five weeks on the streamer's global top 10 English language TV chart.
Variety flags a risk other coverage softens: recent reports show Netflix series losing significant viewership between their first and second seasons, a particular concern given the four-year gap between Season 1's airdate and Season 2's production start.

Why it matters: The four-year gap between Season 1's October 2022 premiere and Season 2's fall production start is unusually long for a renewed streaming series, and the source explicitly raises the concern that Netflix shows have been losing significant viewership between their first and second seasons — making this long-delayed return a commercial test for the platform's horror slate.